The Wedding of it's Time
by 1bluesapphire
Summary: When apparition goes wrong, Lily and James end up getting married in the year 1002. The question is: Will they get back to their own time? Written for the eleventh round of the Quidditch Fanfiction Competition.


The prompts in this story are

1) (word) Flood

2) (word) Crimson

3) (Poem) Indeed, Indeed I cannot Tell, by Henry David Thoreau

The Wedding of it's Time

It started off like any other day. Well, like any day that two people realise that they have to be married, and do so. However, this particular wedding, and more specifically, the bride and groom, had such an odd outcome, that nobody who had attended the wedding forgot it as long as they lived.

Lily Evans and James Potter were the bride and groom, and their wedding was an unforgettable experience. They had invited all of their friends, and had asked for permission to hold the service at Hogwarts.

Professor Dumbledore was only too happy to agree with this, and Lily asked Alice and Petunia to be her bridesmaids.

Alice had been over the moon, but Petunia had sneered, and retorted, "I don't want to be in area full of freaks."

Lily had begged Petunia to be there, but, after days of begging, her sister wouldn't stand down. So, feeling defeated, she asked one of her other friends.

James, on the other hand, and to her slight surprise, had asked Severus Snape to be his best man.

"But I thought you hated him, James." She said, surprised.

"Well, I see no reason to hold a school boy grudge, Lily." He said, and, leaving Lily surprised, he walked away, smiling.

A few months later, they sent out wedding invitations to everybody, and even though Lily knew Petunia wouldn't come, she sent her an invitation, so that she knew that her sister was thinking of her.

Then, she ordered a wedding dress, entertainment, and the reception location.

They had decided to marry on the eighteenth of December, and spend Christmas together in Venice.

On the eighteenth of December, Lily awoke, and using magic, got herself ready. She was going with the usual wedding traditions. Her dress was something new, her pearl necklace was something borrowed, her garter and handkerchief were old, and her sapphire earings were something blue.

Her father offered to take her to the apparition point for Lily and James, whilst he would apparate with Professor Dumbledore to Hogwarts, along with his wife.

He and Dumbledore left first, leaving Lily and James to be last at the wedding, together.

Of course, due to the idea that it was considered bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding, this rule had been altered somewhat. The new rule was that they could see each other, but the bride had a spell placed on her so that the groom couldn't see what she really looked like.

They apparated, and landed in a place that was clearly not Hogwarts. The street they were standing in had become a flood, and admist the rain, there were crimson flags with swastikas on them.

Lily paled considerably, and muttered, "James, I think we've apparted back in time. It's either the nineteen thirties, or early nineteen forties."

James was also looking worried, and said, "Well, we have a wedding to be at; so, let's just apparate out of here, before we get imprisoned by the Nasties."

Despite her fear, Lily burst out laughing. "The Nazi's, you mean."

James laughed, and taking hold of Lily's arm, they apparated again, James saying, "Indeed, Indeed, I cannot tell..."

"Why we were in a place of hell.* Lily concluded, still sniggering at James' mistakes, even though she thought he had given _them _the right name.

Hoping they were at Hogwarts when they arrived, Lily opened her eyes slowly, and gasped. For although they had arrived at Hogwarts, they had arrived in a time period which Lily felt had to be the tenth century. Even more astonishing, was the fact that Hogwarts had been decorated for a wedding anyway.

They stared around them, taking in their surroundings. There were apple trees and pear trees, which no longer stood there.

"James, we're in the tenth century. I know this because the Founders planted these trees when they opened the school, only they don't exist anymore." She said.

James opened his mouth to say something to her, when a voice from behind them asked, "What pray, are you strangers doing here?"

They turned, shocked, to see a man with black hair, emerald green eyes, who was wearing a black dress robe with emerald trimmings, and a scowl.

"Oh, leave them alone Salazar." Another voice called, and they turned to see a woman with black-blue hair, also wearing a dress robe, only the trimmings were yellow.

"Yes, alright Helga." Salazar told her, stiffly.

"So, is there a wedding going on around here?" Lily asked politely, and the two Founders turned to look at her.

"Yes, our friends Godric and Rowena are getting married today. It looks as though you were attending a wedding as well, but arrived in the wrong place." Helga told her, and Lily nodded.

"I swear, Helga, that all the times you're around Rowena, you get smarter all the time." Salazar told her, before saying, "Well, I suppose we could have two weddings."

Lily looked at him, uneasily. "Are you sure that that would be a good idea?"

"Of course it's a good idea. You look as though you were going to married anyway, so having two weddings is a great idea." He told her, and then asked, "So, what are your names, please?"

"I'm Lily, and this is my soon-to-be husband James."

"Pleasure to meet you both, and, given the circumstances, may I be the man to marry you both?"

Lily and James looked at each other, and nodded.

The ceremony was unforgettable, with Lily and Helga being Rowena's bridesmaids, and then the two Founders being Lily's bridesmaids.

They decided that they couldn't have a best man, for the simple reason that neither man knew the other. Salazar was only too happy to marry both couples, and Lily and James discovered that the year was 1002.

Five and a half hours later, the brides and grooms were dancing up a terrific storm in the tenth century version of Hogsmeade. There was nothing familiar there, but there was a restaurant called The Founders, where the wedding reception was held. Lily was laughing as James spun her around in the air, but missed everybody at her 20th century wedding.

_They must be wondering where on earth we are, _she thought. But she had no time to dwell on this, as James was confusing her by telling to "get up."

"What do you mean, James? I haven't fallen." She told him, but something about his voice was puzzling her. She decided to close her eyes, to feel the wind in her hair as James spun her around.

When she opened her eyes, she was astonished to find that she was in bed, in her 20th century home.

"Oh my goodness, that's the best dream I've ever had." She said, as she got ready. But with plenty of time on her hands, Lily wrote down her dream on a piece of parchment, and the dream became a story, which is what you've just finished reading.

*The first line, said by James, is from a poem called Indeed, Indeed I cannot Tell. The second line said by Lily is because it's a reference to that time.


End file.
